


Birthday Wishes

by orphan_account



Series: Enchanted Worlds [15]
Category: Princess Tutu
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-24
Updated: 2014-01-24
Packaged: 2018-01-09 21:23:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1150943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fakir’s birthday is celebrated, and gifts are given.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Birthday Wishes

Ahiru awoke with a jolt at the sound of the gong, and after a couple of dazed moments she started to sit up. As she did, she realized that she was tightly clutching her duck pillow to herself; looking down at it, memories of the dream that had been so rudely interrupted started to drift into her mind. She’d been dreaming about Fakir again, which was no surprise. She’d been dreaming about him a _lot_ lately, ever since she’d realized her feelings for him. A good portion of them were happy, some were just plain weird, and others were unbearably sad, full of longing for things she could never have. In those he either outright rejected her, or she watched him end up with someone else before she could confess her feelings.

This one, though, had been wonderful until her unpleasant awakening. They’d been walking by the duck pond on a beautiful spring day, with the flowers just starting to bloom and the ducks having returned. He’d held her hand while they walked, and then when they stopped had taken her into his arms and they’d kissed. It had been so vivid that she could almost feel where he’d touched her cheek. She let herself sigh and giggle a little into the pillow as she thought about how they’d kissed and how she’d clung to him, and then got up so she could get ready for dinner.

Ahiru changed into a different dress and then headed into the bathroom to fix up her hair, as it had gotten mussed a bit during her nap. Tonight was very important: it was Fakir’s birthday, and so she wanted to look nice. She knew she’d never look as pretty as she _wanted_ to look, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t try her best with what she did have.

She ended up spending longer in front of the mirror than she usually did, only leaving once she was pretty sure she was running late, still fretting over perceived imperfections she’d seen. It was tempting to rush down the stairs, but she made herself go slowly and carefully as one of Fakir’s presents was fragile and she didn’t want to risk breaking it.

Aside from Uzura - who’d given Fakir her present after class earlier that day before being taken back to her bedroom by Miss Goatette, as she was supposed to be staying in bed due to the cold she’d caught - everyone was there already when Ahiru reached the private family dining room. Her enthusiasm faltered slightly as she realized that “everyone” included Raetsel this time, but she refused to let her slight dismay show. Raetsel had been warm and friendly to her every time they’d met in the halls or passed each other in the castle gardens, but Ahiru still didn’t feel completely comfortable around her; still, she figured she could deal with this for one night. Raetsel usually went home for dinner, and on the occasions she stayed and ate at the castle she was completely occupied by talking about her work with the other adults. And besides, she was Fakir’s family, so it was rather mean to begrudge them the chance to celebrate his birthday together. Guilt tugged at her for being even remotely unhappy to see her, and she made herself smile brightly back at Raetsel when she waved at her from across the room.

Everyone else had stacked their gifts for Fakir on a small side table near the window, so Ahiru put hers there and then hurried over to join the others. She sat down in between Rue and Fakir, not realizing that Rue had deliberately arranged to leave that particular chair free for her. “H-hi, Fakir,” she said as she seated herself. “H-happy birthday, a-again.”

"Thanks." Fakir glanced over, and felt his heart flutter at the sight of her. He tried to put a teasing smile on his face. "Again." Across the table, Raetsel watched them with a newfound interest.

Ahiru giggled nervously. “Y-yeah, I know it’s kinda redundant cause I already said it this morning but it also feels more official now cause this is the big celebration of it, you know? A-and, um, did you have a good birthday? I - I know we had to go to class so it wasn’t like you got to do anything really fun all day, but I hope it hasn’t been bad, at least…”

"It’s been good." He smiled more genuinely at her now, unaware that it took her breath away for a second. It was true - even though they’d been in class for most of it, he’d gotten to spend the day with Ahiru, and by default that made it better than a birthday without her around. "Don’t worry."

"O-okay, that’s good…" Ahiru tried to think of something else to say, but was distracted by the arrival of the food, and began to serve herself like everyone else was.

"I remember how much I hated having to spend my birthday in school," Raetsel commented as she buttered a roll. "But then, it’s different for you - the castle is your home. I wanted to be back at my house, celebrating with my friends." She paused, and laughed. "Also, the teacher before Mr. Katz wasn’t pleasant at all. If you think Mr. Katz can be moody and weird and strict sometimes… well, he is, but the previous instructor was just awful."

"Really?" Ahiru was interested despite herself. "How was he awful?"

"Well, for starters, he was almost completely humorless." Raetsel took a sip of her wine before continuing. "And if there’s anything he actually likes and approves of, other than magic, I’d be very surprised to hear it. A piece of music, a book, a film… whatever you want to name, bring it up, and he was sure to glower and grumble about everything he saw wrong with it and how much he hated it. It became something of a game, to bring things up either in the classroom or at dinner, and see if we could find something he liked - yes, even the adults participated - but I don’t think anyone ever won."

"Wow. He does sound mean." Ahiru found herself suddenly grateful for Mr. Katz in all his quirkiness. "What was his name?"

"Wayne Archer." Chrestomanci let out a deep sigh. "He was left over from the days of my predecessor and taught me for a time too. I would have sacked him as soon as I took the position, but he was too well-liked among others in the government at the time, and I feared causing a stir that early in my career. Thankfully, he finally retired just as Mr. Katz acquired his teaching license, and I was free to give Raetsel, Rue, and Fakir a much better instructor."

"I still can’t wrap my head around the idea that he was popular." Rue shook her head. "I mean, I barely remember him since he left just after I came to the castle, but what I do remember was pretty unpleasant."

Fakir said nothing. He had his own small set of memories of the teacher in question, none of them remotely good. He’d had to be taught by the man while he was still recovering from the fire, and the way he’d been treated by him over what had happened had exacerbated his fears over how other people would treat him if they found out. Needless to say, it wasn’t something he wanted to dwell on or speak about openly with everyone. Maybe alone with Ahiru at some point, as he knew _she_ would understand, but not here, not now. As asking for the subject to be changed would require explaining why, all he could do was hope that it changed on its own soon.

"So were the government officials he was close with," Chrestomanci said, a wry look on her face. "Fortunately, most of them have retired as well, and the others I don’t have to deal with very often."

"It sounds like the castle was really different back then," Ahiru said.

"A bit." Chrestomanci shrugged. "Some staff changes have occurred, and there were more students that left not long after Raetsel started being instructed… but other than that, the castle is largely the same. The new wing, for example, was built just after I arrived as a child, so it has been here a while."

"Oh." Ahiru couldn’t think of anything else to say to that, so she focused her attention on eating, and let the conversation continue on around her without really participating. Raetsel seemed in a mood to reminisce about days gone by, and pulled Chrestomanci, Rue, and even Fakir into it, telling stories about castle staff who weren’t there anymore, or funny stories about Mr. Katz when he was just starting as a teacher. It was all very interesting to listen to, but she nevertheless felt awkward because she couldn’t really participate in a meaningful way or contribute anything. Fakir tried to include her as best he could, sensing that she felt left out, but unfortunately it never worked for very long.

At last, after what seemed an interminable period of this, dinner and dessert were finished and they all went over to the sitting area so Fakir could open his presents. He chose to sit in the middle of the rug, and Ahiru settled herself near him; Rue chose an armchair, as usual, as did Chrestomanci and Raetsel.

Rue’s present came first; Fakir opened up a small black box to reveal a gift certificate to a clothing store in Gold Crown. His eyebrows went up a little as he saw it. “Thank you, Rue.”

"Heh." Rue couldn’t help but smirk at him. "I know how you loathe shopping for clothes, but now you’ve got no choice in the matter."

"That’s actually a very useful gift," Raetsel said, before Fakir could form a retort. "You’ll need something new for the wedding, after all, and I’m sure you’re starting to outgrow your old clothes anyway."

That was actually true, but Fakir didn’t feel like admitting it and giving Rue the satisfaction of having given him a useful gift that he wouldn’t enjoy using but needed anyway. “Hmph.” He shrugged and reached for the next one, which was from Chrestomanci. It was another small box, and inside was a well-polished pocket watch made of some kind of golden metal he didn’t recognize. “Ah… thanks…”

"You’re welcome." She nodded at him. "I felt it may be of use to you, particularly in the future when you are done with your schooling, and as you did not seem to already own one this struck me as a timely occasion to present you with this." She paused, and smiled. "If you will pardon the pun."

Fakir couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah… I think it will be. Thank you, again.” He eyed the last two presents and decided to save Ahiru’s for last; he knew even without looking at them that they would be the most special to him. He opened Raetsel’s gift, and found that it was a pair of gold cufflinks set with cabochons of carnelian. His eyes widened slightly, as those couldn’t have come cheaply. “Ah… thank you Raetsel.”

"You like them?" She beamed at him. "I thought you deserved to have something nice for special occasions. Moreover, that’s your birthstone, and it’s supposed to be good luck to wear your birthstone, so I knew I had to get that pair as soon as I saw it."

"My birthstone, huh?" Fakir gazed down at the bright orange-red stones. He didn’t put much stock in such things, nor did he care much about fashion, but he had to admit they were nice.

"Yes, indeed." Raetsel brushed some of her hair out of her face. "And I think the colors suit you, which makes it doubly nice."

"Mmmm." Fakir put the cover back on the box and set it aside. Beside him, Ahiru sat up straighter, and her heart began to beat faster as he started untying the string that held the three little boxes together. Rationally, she knew he would probably like them, but she couldn’t help but be nervous anyway.

He opened up the largest one first, which contained a fine, leather-bound blank book. Rue leaned forward in her chair to see it, a puzzled expression on her face. “Is… that a diary? I never figured Fakir for the diary-keeping type…”

"It - it can be anything he wants!" Ahiru said quickly. "You - you can write lots of things in little books like that, I - I thought it might be useful for… for whatever he wants to use it for."

"I’m sure I’ll figure something out." Fakir met Ahiru’s eyes, and he nodded slightly at her. "Thank you, Ahiru."

"Y-you’re welcome!" She blushed a little, and waited for him to open the next gift.

Within the second-largest box was a beautiful glass pen in the shape of a feather. Rue and Raetsel both gasped as they saw it, and even Fakir was stunned into silence for a moment before he dared to touch it. “This… where did you get this?”

"D-do you like it?" Ahiru asked anxiously. "There - there was a store selling them, in town - I don’t remember the name or where it was but it had lots of pretty glass stuff and all kinds of pens and I thought it might be nice to give you something that kinda matched the inkwell I got you for Christmas… is it okay?"

"Of course it is." Fakir was touched by the gift, but didn’t know how to adequately express it. He’d seen the pens in the store she was talking about and if he remembered correctly they’d been _very_ expensive. That she’d spend that amount of money on him… he wasn’t sure what to say to that or how to properly thank her, or why she would do such a thing in the first place. “Thank you…”

"You’re welcome!" Her expression brightened. "I - I’m so glad you like it!" It had taken most of the money she’d been saving up after buying all her Christmas presents for everyone to buy the pen, the notebook, and the materials for the third gift, but she felt it was worth it. She wanted to give him something special, not because she expected anything in return, but simply because she loved him and wanted to give him something nice.

The smallest of the boxes had in it something that was far less pricey than the other two, but was actually the most special of the three to Ahiru: a simple ribbon of green and black, with a single, slender thread of shimmering gold in the middle. Fakir lifted it out of the box to get a better look at it, and noticed that it was silky soft and pleasant to touch. “Ah… this is…”

"It - it’s for… is it okay?" Ahiru swallowed. "I - I thought… I have lots of stuff for my hair, a-and it’s fun to try different things and I know you’re not really into that but I thought you still might like to have something different to use once in a while, not that what you usually use is _bad_ , it’s just… fun, like I said.” She seemed to shrink a little. “S-so, I  - I made it myself, so that you’d have s-something unique that you couldn’t buy anywhere… is that okay?”

"Yeah." He looked over at her and nodded as he put it carefully back in its box. Something she’d made with her own hands, especially for him… that was worth several of those pricey glass pens. "It - it’s good. You did good work. Thank you."

"R-really?" Fakir nodded again, and Ahiru’s eyes lit up. "Oh - oh, I’m so glad!" She leaned forward and gave him a quick hug. She hesitated for just a moment as she pulled back, wanting to give him another kiss on the cheek, but - no. Particularly not in front of everyone else. "I’m so happy you like it!"

"I do. And… and I’ll use it." Fakir somehow found the courage to meet her eyes, despite the effect that her sudden hug had had on him. "I promise."

"Oh -! Thank you! I mean, you’re welcome - I mean…" Ahiru trailed off, flustered. "Oh, um, what I am saying? I - I’m just so glad you liked my presents…"

From her vantage point not far away, Raetsel frowned slightly. It was obvious to her now that Ahiru had a massive crush on Fakir - how had she not seen it before? She really should’ve considering how transparent the girl was. A little bit of guilt nipped at her; it must have been so awkward, then, at her engagement party, for Ahiru to have to see the person she was sweet on get introduced to possible girlfriends. He hadn’t hit it off with either of them, which had been disappointing at the time, but maybe there was a reason for that? She wasn’t sure. Ahiru was transparent, but Fakir was, as always, frustratingly opaque. She couldn’t tell if he reciprocated Ahiru’s feelings or regarded her as a friend. It was worth watching at the very least, though.

There was still school and work the next day for everyone, so they didn’t linger long once Fakir was done opening his presents. Raetsel bid them all a fond farewell before heading home, and after that they all dispersed to their respective bedrooms. Ahiru lingered at her own door to stare down the hall at Fakir’s for a moment before heading into her room, her shoulders drooping with wistful longing even as she tried to convince herself that maybe she’d have another good dream about him tonight.

Fakir had sent his presents to his room ahead of him, and began to unpack them and set them in their proper places once he got there. The pocket watch went to his bedside table, the cufflinks to a drawer in his dresser, the pen and book on top of his desk, the gift certificate into his wallet, and the ribbon he took into the bathroom after he’d changed into his sleep clothes. He set it on the counter, and his gaze kept finding it again as he finished the last of his preparations for bed. Once they were all done, he untied his hair and tossed the old ribbon into the waste bin.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t have gotten more use out of it; sure, it was frayed at the ends a bit, and faded, but it was still more than serviceable, and given his general lack of interest in such things he would have kept using it as long as possible before finding a new one. That is, he would have if Ahiru hadn’t _made_ him one. One that she’d bought would’ve been a special gift too, but that she’d put her time and effort into crafting something specially for him… what else was he going to use from now on? Why would he want to keep using something that meant nothing to him, when he could use what she had made him? There was really no choice at all.

Fakir took the ribbon back into his bedroom with him, intending to retie his hair with it before turning out the light. Instead he wound up falling asleep with it still clutched carefully in his hand, right up against his heart, and he dreamed sweet dreams of her until dawn.


End file.
